Optical recording method having two degrees of reflectivity and a diffraction grating or hologram formed integrally thereon and process for making it

• US 5,138,604 A
• Filed: 12/07/1989
• Issued: 08/11/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Company Limited
• Inventors: Kondo, Yuji, Umeda, Kazuo, Ishikawa, Toshiharu
• Primary Examiner(s): RICHARDSON, ROBERT
• Application Number:
  US07/445,638
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• Field of Search: 369/100, 369/103, 369/109, 235/457, 235/487, 235/488, 350/3.60, 350/3.61, 283/86, 283/9.4, 283/91, 283/98, 902/4, 902/25
• US Class Current: 369/103
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/328 Diffraction gratings; Holograms
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0011 for security or authentication holograms on information-bearing cards B42D25/328; testing papers with holograms G07D7/0032
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0236 Form or shape of the hologram when not registered to the substrate, e.g. trimming the hologram to alphanumerical shape substrates bearing a hologram G03H1/0272
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/0244 Surface relief holograms replicating hologram without interference recording G03H1/0276
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 1/22 Processes or apparatus for obtaining an optical image from holograms G03H1/26 - G03H1/34 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2001/0016 Covert holograms or holobjects requiring additional knowledge to be perceived, e.g. holobject reconstructed only under IR illumination
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2001/187 Trimming process, i.e. macroscopically patterning the hologram
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2230/10 Microhologram not registered to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/52 Integrated surface relief hologram without forming layer
• CPC Class Codes: G03H 2270/54 Recording material filed in recessed substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/086 by passive credit-cards adapted therefor, e.g. constructive particularities to avoid counterfeiting, e.g. by inclusion of a physical or chemical security-layer for security documents G07D7/00; for the reading of record-carriers in general G06K7/00; for the design of coded credit-cards G06K19/10
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/0033 with cards or other card-like flat carriers, e.g. flat sheets of optical film
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/0065 Recording, reproducing or erasing by using optical interference patterns, e.g. holograms
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/24 Record carriers characterised by shape, structure or physical properties, or by the selection of the material characterised by the arrangement of information on the carrier G11B7/007
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/26 Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture of record carriers

Abstract

An optical recording medium of the present invention has on a substrate information recording patterns (2) and (3) distinguishable by a difference in light reflectivity, and is characterized in that said information recording pattern (2) is comprised of a portion (2a) of high reflectivity and a portion (2b) of low reflectivity and at least a part of said information recording patterns is formed by a diffraction grating or hologram (3). Since such plural types of information can be formed at the same time and at high density, the present invention has a merit of its having excellent fake-proofness and its manufacturing process being simplified.

Claims

1. An optical recording medium comprising:

a substrate; and

an information recording pattern formed on the substrate, said information recording pattern including a portion of high reflectivity and a portion of low reflectivity, the portion of low reflectivity of the information recording pattern having a diffraction grating or hologram superimposed thereon.

2. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information recording pattern includes a diffraction grating, and is formed such that the width of a groove of a part of said diffraction grating is varied.

3. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information recording pattern includes a diffraction pattern, and is formed such that the pitch of a portion of said diffraction grating is varied.

4. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information recording pattern includes a diffraction grating, and is formed by overlapping parts of said diffraction grating having varied angles.

5. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, which is an optical card.

6. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, which is an optical disk.

7. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein a light reflecting material is laminated on the whole surface or a partial surface of said substrate to cover said information recording pattern area thereby.

8. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein an optical recording material is laminated on the whole surface or a partial surface of said substrate to cover said information recording pattern area thereby.

9. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a part of said hologram is comprised of a type of hologram where the reproduced image appears by the irradiation of a laser beam.

10. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of low reflectivity of said information recording pattern is formed by exposure to two coherent bundle of rays or object and reference beams.

11. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of low reflectivity of said information recording pattern is formed by exposure to light through a mask having a regular pattern of a diffraction grating.

12. An optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein exposure to light is carried out through a single mask having both (a) a pattern of the size of an information bit forming said information recording pattern and 9b) a regular pattern smaller than the size of the information bit forming said information recording pattern.

13. An optical recording medium comprising:

a substrate; and

means for displaying information on said substrate, said means for displaying information including a first information pattern encoded in either an area of first reflectivity or an area of second reflectivity, and a second information pattern encoded in a diffraction grating or hologram formed integrally with said substrate and superimpsoed on said area of first reflectivity.

14. An optical recording medium comprising:

a substrate, said substrate having an information recording area having a first portion of first reflectivity and a second portion of second reflectivity; and

means for inhibiting counterfeiting, said means including a diffraction grating or hologram formed integrally with said substrate and superimposed on said first portion of first reflectivity or said second portion of second reflectivity.